reviewed by Sheldon Dingle
Los Angeles, California
Ring,necked Rainbows,
a New Book of Colors
A rather odd book came into
.rt:y hands and 1 was going to
ignore it because I wasn't sure how to
describe it. This issue of Watchbird,
however, with all its literature on
Indian Ring-necked Parakeets and
their mutations, seems to be just the
place to have a go at it and not worry
about the unusual format.
Indeed, the title of the book is
Ringnecked Parakeets and Their
Mutations by T. Bastiaan and GJJ.
Bastiaan, translated by Neville AJmstrong,
There is no fluff or hype about this volume, it goes from the front cover
directly to the table of contents, There
is no title page at all so I'm not even
sure who published it although it has
a copyright date of 1995, I suspect the
authors published it and if so, blessings on their heads,
But who needs the fluff anyway? If
you are interested in mutations of the
Indian Ring-necked Parakeet, you
surely should have this 128 page hardbound volume that shows in full,
vibrant color more color variations of
the Ringneck than anyone will believe,
The book's layout is Simple, There
is a very short preface, half a page
devoted to directions for use (explanations of the symbols used), an equally
short section on accommodations for
the Ringnecks. and a few words on
feeding, care, breeding and mutations,
All these sections can be read in about
five minutes, Don't buy the book for
this data, although it's good stuff and
quite true and accurate, This isn't a
book on how to breed Ring-neckeds,
You will, however, want the book
for the remaining 122 pages, They
contain 60 be~lUtiful full color plates
depicting the many astounding color
mutations of of the vely popular and
beautiful Ringneck.
Can you believe it? There are 79
color mutations listed in the Bastiaan
book. I remember when there were
just Lutinos and BI.ues - and breeders
had a long waiting list of aviculturists
wanting to buy, 1 must be getting old,
Each of the 79 mutations has its
own page or more that gives all the
statistical color expectations for various
matings, For a simple example, with a
green male split for blue, mated to a
blue female, the expectations are 50%
green split for blue and 50% blue offspring, The number of these expectations becomes much larger as the combination of mutations are bred together. For instance, if you breed a Fallow
Pastelblue Cinnamon with a Fallow
Blue Cinnamon there are 16 different
possibilities that the offspring could be,
These expectation chaI1s are vely
well done and easily understandable
and are of great value to those breeders working with even the Simplest
mutations, In addition to the charts,
each mutation has some commentary
about it - words of wisdom, if you will,
that give you a better understanding of
the genetic background of the bird,
And it is not necessaly to be a genius
to get the authors' point. They have
done a good job of keeping things
simple but accurate,
For me, however, the best thing
about the book is the color photographs of the birds, Almost all of the
photos have been taken in a photo
box and show the full bird against a
pale background so you can really
focus on the colors of the bird, The
colors are vibrant. Mutation Indian
Ring-necked Parakeets have long been
one of my favorite birds and for me,
opening this book is like being a kid in
a candy store. 1 drool d a lot on my
copy.
The mutations I like best are the
Cobalt (a deep, rich dark blue that will
boggle your brain) and the Yellowheaded Yellow-tailed (a combination
of rich yellow and deep green that is
extraordinaIY), If 1 weren't travelling so
much, I'd lay in a good supply of these
jewels. When you see the colors in the
book, you'll want to sell all you have
and buy all the mutations you can,
Don't worry about food, shelter, kids
or mundane things of that sort,
Because this work is primarily a picture book there is not much more to
say about it. You have to see it to
appreciate and enjoy it.
In the U.S" Ringnecked Parakeets
and Theil' Mutations by T Bastiaan
and GJ). Bastiaan, is distributed by the
Asiatic PaITot Society of America, 734 S,
Boulder
Highway,
Suite
400,
Henderson, NY 89015. The price is
$70.00, Members of the Society get
about a 20% discount. Contact the the
above address for additional information and literature on the book. .
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afa WATCHBIRD 19